Ram Rahim, 4 others acquitted in Ranjit Singh murder case
The Punjab and Haryana High Court cleared Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four other defendants in the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. The High Court issued the ruling while also granting Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s appeal against his conviction.
In the case, Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, and Sabdil Singh were also accused. During the trial, one of the accused passed away.
A CBI court in Panchkula found Gurmeet Ram Rahim guilty in 2019 in two murder cases including the assassination of journalist and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, as well as in a rape case.
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Ram Rahim and the other four defendants were sentenced to life in prison by the court on October 18, 2021. The Dera chairman was charged a fine of Rs 31 lakh.
Before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the chief of Dera had contested each and every conviction. His appeals, however, are still pending in the cases of rape and journalist murder. Ram Rahim is being held at the Sunaria jail in Rohtak.
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What happened in the case?
In 2002, Ranjit Singh, the Dera’s former manager, was fatally shot. The death is said to have been connected to his alleged involvement in spreading a letter, written in secret, detailing how Ram Rahim was abusing women sexually at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa, Haryana.
Ram Rahim and four other defendants in the murder case were found guilty by a CBI court in 2021 and given life sentences. In the high court, the 56-year-old Dera leader had contested this conviction. Today, the other four individuals found guilty by the CBI court were also found not guilty.
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The contentious Dera chief is currently incarcerated following his conviction for the rape of two sadhvis at the dera and for the death of writer Ram Chander Prajapati, who had written extensively on the claims of sexual assault against the powerful Dera chief.
Following the launch of the CBI’s investigation into the horrific claims of sexual assault against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the Dera Sacha Sauda gained national attention. The Dera chief claimed he was impotent in 2014, a decade after the investigation started, but the court disregarded this.
Several localities saw rioting and arson after his conviction in 2017. Over 250 people were hurt, thirty people killed, and the Army had to be brought in to stabilize the situation. Ram Rahim has appealed his conviction in the high court and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
